Migdely Miranda and Giniveth Soto (right) turning in signatures to the National Assembly for marriage equality. Photo taken from the blog, Un Pobre Peatón [A Poor Pedestrian].

All links are in Spanish.

LGBTQ rights defenders are mourning Giniveth Soto, a Venezuelan gender-equality activist murdered earlier this week. According to unofficial sources, a carjacker shot and killed Soto in Caracas, after she refused to surrender her car.

The right to marriage equality in Venezuela was one of Soto's most important campaign. Despite advancements on this issue in neighboring countries, same-sex couples in Venezuela are not permitted to marry. This didn't stop Soto, who in 2013 married her partner, Migdely Miranda. Venezuela's government, however, refused to recognize the ceremony and contested the parenthood of Soto's son, Salvador, who was conceived using artificial insemination.

Soto's murder has launched at least two major, nationwide public debates: urban violence and threats same-sex couples face in Venezuela.

While stealing the vehicle Soto also used as a taxi to support her family, the offender shot and killed her. […] All the pain that a loss as tragic as this one entails, it appears to have become part of daily life in Venezuela. Although this country has 13 Interior Ministers and more than 20 “safety” plans, it is one of the places where most violent deaths occur in the world, with tens and thousands of victims annually. Living here gives us the feeling that we are all just waiting in line, waiting for our number to be called.

Venezuela's refusal to recognize gay married couples makes death a political issue, too:

As if the risk were low for all Venezuelans to be victims of violence and impunity, our families and those of the Venezuelan LGBTQ community must also confront the lack of legal protection. After the grievous murder of his mother, little three-month old Salvador is placed in a vulnerable situation. Neither him nor his mother, Migdely, have the right to inherit Gini's property in Venezuela. She cannot receive the survivors’ pension or legally make decisions regarding what is to be done with her wife's body; the person that she loved and dreamed about spending the rest of her life with.

Violence killed Gini Soto. However, intolerance killed the rights of her wife and son: no inheritance, no name.

The Civil Association for Equality in Venezuela has also weighed in, urging citizens to seek justice in this tragedy, which the group calls “a crime that afflicts the foundation of the fight for equality.”

An investigation into the murder of this brave and indomitable activist needs to begin immediately. Such a crime cannot go unpunished, all the more so as this crime afflicts the foundation of the fight for the rights of Venezuela's sex and gender-diverse population. It's therefore crucial that we seek justice and strengthen our public institutions, in order to guarantee our ability to exercise the right to a free and equal life without discrimination, stigmas founded on Judeo-Christian atavistic prejudices, and moral and psychological violence—the consequences of a heterosexist, macho, and sexist culture.